Developmental Delays-How to detect them?

Updated on November 10, 2008

Developmental delays

The day I found out that my eldest son has Sensoneural Hearing Loss on both ears I almost cried. The Audiologist looked at and felt how heartbroken I was and she said "I understand how you feel and I know it is hard to accept that your child is less than perfect." True it is hard to accept that your child maybe less than perfect but the only way you can make them perfect for you is to help them any way you can.

Today I have finally found out what I have been dying to know for the past 2 years. Like I said my eldest son has Sensoneural Hearing Loss but the mild type. It alarmed me and had my second child tested right away. At that time he was just 4. He passed the test and the Audiologist suggested a yearly testing, so we did. the following year my 2nd son was still ok. Then suddenly in 1st grade he flunked the hearing test in school. I immediately told their Pediatrician who referred us right away to Stanford.

To my dismay my 2nd son's hearing loss came from normal to moderate hearing loss. We were shocked and felt really bad. I tried to get the school involved in trying to get him evaluated in school to see if he needed extra help. They said it seemed like he didn't need any since he has his hearing aids. My problems just kept coming because when my son went to 2nd grade his grades started failing. i still insisted he get more help in school especially when he reached 3rd grade. Still I was denied the request. The school psychologist said it might be just behavioral issues. I searched and searched and found out that to be even evaluated it would take at least 6 months to get an appointment.

I was just so depressed that I decided to take the matters in a different way. i called a tutoring service and explained my son's situation. THe person I spoke with suggested I try a company in San Jose who dealt with developmental issues. He gave me the number of Educational Strategies. I called and made the appointment.

We met last Friday and my son did his tests. To my dismay his viual memory , motor integration and comprehension was 2 years delayed. Party due to the hearing loss and partly because of delays in his Perceptual development. The therapist showed me the results of the test and what it meant and I was appalled to find out that a simple drawing could mean a whole new thing. My son needed Visual Spatial help plus perceptual enrichement programs.

The test was amazing. As a parent I clearly had no idea that a pattern in my son's handwritting was a symptom of a learning disability and I am afraid there are a lot of parent's out there who need to learn about this as well.

Your child might have problems if:

1. They write the letter's of the alphabet from bottom to top. Example writing the small letter f starting from the bottom and ending to the top.

2. If you ask them to draw a box with 3 divisions inside, they draw 3 divisions connecting it together to look like a box.

3. They can not simply follow the pattern on how to write a letter. Like starting the letter on the left side of the paper they write it either in the middle or right side.

4. You show them a picture which has a tree on the left side a house in the middle with a +++window on the right side. You ask to draw it and the draw the tree to the right, the house somewhere in the middle and the window on the left.

More by this Author

I thrive to live a life with less complication but with order and perseverance. Why you may ask? Only because as I understand people will be saner if there is a system they can follow. It would help them expect the...

Did you get an Occupational Therapy evaluation? That woul help with his visual spatial, visual motor, and handwriting skills. Also, if he has issues within his ear, is it affecting his vestibular sense? Is he craving movement or afraid to move? I have a background in sensorimotor processing and I am a pediatric physical therapist. Would he be a candidate for therapeutic listening? Does he have auditory processing issues? If I can be of any help as a sounding board let me know and good luck! Children are resilient, he will adapt.